SHAKERS midfielder David Buchanan was called up to represent Northern Ireland Under-21s in this week's two friendlies with Israel.

The two games in Israel were part of Northern Ireland's preparations for the Euro 2007 qualifiers with Liechtenstein but Bury refused to give Buchanan permission to play in the matches due to the player shortage at Gigg Lane.

He is a regular for Northern Ireland Under-19s and he has been deemed good enough to make the step up to under-21s level after establishing himself in Bury's first team.